LGBTQ+ Book recommendations, etc…

LGBTQ Short Stories

I talk so much about novels, how about this week we have a look at some short stories instead?

I don’t know why I don’t read more short stories, because I really love them when I do take the time to read them. I’m going to try to read more this year. This post will feature some books I’ve already read, and ones I want to get around to.

First up is the brilliant A Portable Shelterfrom Kirsty Logan. I am a huge fan of Kirsty’s work, and absolutely adore her novels. Kirsty is gifted at telling dark, mysterious, unusual stories that have a depth, richness, and mystery unlike anything I’ve read before.

A Portable Shelter is a linked collection of stories. Liska and Ruth are waiting for the birth of their first child, and they tell stories to the baby, vowing to only speak the truth. Stories of circuses, selkie fishermen, werewolves, child-eating witches and broken-toothed dragons, all woven into the fabric of Liska and Ruth’s relationship within each other, and their hopes for their unborn child.

This is truly a magical collection. You can also find more Kirsty Logan short stories in The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales.

All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages is a collection by of historical fiction by multiple authors. This collection includes seventeen stories and I’ve read some of them, but not all yet – I will get around to finishing it soon.

There is a great variety in the settings, style, and genre of the stories, but one thing they all have in common is that the characters are all queer teens. A fantastic addition to your short story collections.

I definitely have to include the upcoming Proud anthology in this post. I know I’ve talked about it before, and I’ll talk about it more when it comes out, but it is such an excellent YA collection.

I’ve not finished every story yet but the ones I have read have made me laugh and cry. Each story comes with a fantastic illustration and the collection also features some poetry.

It’s out in March and you can pre-order now.

I should definitely follow up Proud with another queer anthology, and that is We Were Always Here. I haven’t yet read it and I don’t yet own a copy, but it’s on it’s way to me because I pre-ordered it so fast I nearly fell off the sofa! This is an anthology created by independent publishers 404 Ink, and is a collection of stories and poems celebrating the diversity of Scottish queer experiences.

I’m going to end by recommending a single short story, rather than a collection.

Superior by Jessica Lack is the most adorable, brilliantly written, m/m superhero story, in which a superhero’s intern falls in love with a supervillain’s apprentice. It’s a long short story (or a short novella depending on your opinion) and is unfortunately only available to download from Amazon, but it’s definitely worth it.

That’s all for this week’s recommendations. Let me know if you’ve read any of these books, and what you thought of them. If you have more suggestions of LGBTQ short stories comment on this post or come chat to me on Twitter.

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